by Isaure Cointreau

When I said I was going to Oslo for a couple of days the reactions I got were very uncanny. Normally everybody feels excitement upon the topic of travel but here utter surprise was in order.

-         Oslo, really? What are you going to do in Finland?

-         Try Norway. Finland is bit further east.

Looking for new sights to explore and a breath of fresh air, what could be a better idea than to check out a Scandinavian country? The whole prospect does have an edgy look to it though depends  what you are into. I for my part was not deceived. Arriving at Oslo with a Ryan Air 15£ return ticket, I was an hour bus ride away from the centre of the capital. Checking in at the Anker Hostel, this cheap way to put a roof above my head accommodated me with six Swedish roommates. Only a few blocks away from the interesting spots of the city, one only has to choose where he wants to start.

There are tons of sights to get acquainted to and although Oslo is a really nice and easy walk it is not as small as it feels. Public transportation is really accessible and well organized. You can then go from one point of the city to another in no time. However, if you ever get lost don’t be afraid to ask, I’ve never met so warm hearted people and they’ll gladly help you out. Plus, everyone speaks perfect English as if they were natives.  French and Italians can blush!

A good place to start your visit would be to follow Karl Johans gate. The Cathedral, the Parliament, the Oslo University, the National Theatre and the Palace set the background of this high end street. I must admit the architecture is mostly impressive although I was very much deceived by the royal residency. Too plain or too simple, the least would be to say that I was more impressed by its incredible view of the city and its gardens than the building itself. In terms of museum there are several not to miss. The National Gallery is one of them and has a wide varied collection of artists from Norway and afar. There, I was introduced to Kittelsen’s trolls and breathtaking landscapes,  Krohg’s exceptional portraits and “mise en scene”.

On the account of renowned Norwegian artists Munch, Ibsen and Vigeland are the pride and joy of the country. Therefore they all have a private space where their work is exposed. For one the Munch museum is a must see. Offering a true understanding of the artist’s perspective on live and art, this place is a cave of wonders. Ibsen, best known for Peer Gynt, Hedda Gabbler and The doll’s house had his own apartment turned into the museum of his life, plays and success. Let it be an introduction for those who don’t know Oslo’s favourite playwright. Other than that the Vigeland sculpture park is the most amazing experience I have ever had in a city garden. With as many as 212 statues the sculptor has shaped in clay lively and profound scenes of humanism. From children to the elderly, love to hate, peace to war, this park offers a parallel between life and death.

As far as food and drinks are concerned Oslo is a minefield of cute and trendy, rocky, jazzy and classic sites. Karl Johans Gate, the city centre’s main road offers a wide range of choices. I would recommend Samson for breakfast for its yummy traditional pastries. Although Norwegian’s are really big on sandwiches  with their coffee in the morning, try a selection of their desserts. If you like almonds you are in for a treat! For lunch I loved Lorry with it eccentric/attic look. You’ll find yourself eating with a bunch of antiquities such as a stuffed giraffe and zebra, army caps and wild art. Being the place to be for intellectuals and people within the arts, the quirky look of this place and your salmon will be quite the experience. Looking forward to a break? Stop by the local jazz bar held by Norwegian icon Bodil Anbefaler. It’s great music and fun people in a cosy (almost New York style) atmosphere.  The Bare Jazz AS on Grensen Street is one of my favourite spots in the city. Other than that I really enjoyed dinner at Cathedral. In a weird solemn candlelight ambiance, the heavy wood of the furniture recall a medieval look. The food is amazing, and the photos shot in this small pub-like restaurant are incredible ( as if Georges de La tour had guided the light effects of our snapshots.

It was so nice up North, I guess I have a little crush on Oslo. Inspiring me the desire to know more about Scandinavian countries, let’s consider this  the beginning of my exploration of the Baltic. It’ll take time but I can only dream about it.

(di Giovanni Vecchio – Lions Club Acireale)

Assoluta nudità in armonia con la natura

Sono passati 140 anni dalla nascita di Adolf Gustav Vigeland, che ha legato la sua fama internazionale al grande Parco di Oslo che oggi porta il suo nome e che contiene 214 sculture con un totale di 758 figure, tutte modellate da lui. Un intreccio di spazi, forme umane nella più assoluta nudità, fiori, alberi ed acque che creano un risultato d’insieme maestoso e suggestivo, in armonia con la natura.
Vigeland era nato a Mandal, una piccola città nel Sud della Norvegia, l’11 aprile 1869 e sin da piccolo dal padre maestro falegname acquisì l’arte dell’intarsio e si esercitò nel disegno. Ebbe un’educazione rigidamente pietistica, che nel corso della sua vita rigettò negli aspetti più formali mantenendo tuttavia una visione spirituale della vita e la consapevolezza della multiformità della natura umana.
A 15 anni iniziò l’apprendistato come scultore del legno. Studiò molto, specialmente anatomia e letteratura greca classica, continuando a creare bozzetti di sculture.
Dopo un difficile periodo vissuto a Kristiania (l’antico nome di Oslo), si incontrò con lo scultore Brynjulf Bergslien, che lo accolse nel suo atelier e gli procurò alcune commesse da privati.
Nel 1889 debuttò all’Esposizione Statale d’Arte con l’opera “Hagar e Ismaele” e studiò disegno con il maestro scultore Mathias Skeibrok. Vinte delle borse di studio, tra il 1891 e il 1896 si recò più volte a Copenaghen (in quel periodo punto di riferimento culturale e scientifico dei paesi scandinavi), Parigi, Berlino e Firenze acquisendo esperienze di grande valore formativo al di fuori del mondo accademico. In particolare ebbe la possibilità di frequentare a Parigi lo studio dello scultore Auguste Rodin che contribuì al perfezionamento della rappresentazione della figura umana; in Italia ammirò l’arte antica e quella del Rinascimento.
Ed è questo il periodo in cui emergono con forza i temi che caratterizzeranno le sue opere: la vita e la morte e il rapporto tra l’uomo e la donna.Le sue prime mostre in Norvegia nel 1894 e nel 1896 riscossero l’approvazione dei critici. Tra il 1897 e il 1902 fu impegnato nel restauro della Cattedrale di Nidaros a Trondheim e si confrontò con l’arte medievale apportando nella sua produzione elementi nuovi di creatività artistica e simbolismi legati al peccato, ma anche alla forza della natura, in lotta contro l’uomo.
Rientrato ad Oslo nel periodo in cui la Norvegia conquistò l’indipendenza (1905) e intendeva esaltare la nazionalità, ebbe molte commissioni per busti e statue, tra le quali quelle del drammaturgo Henrik Ibsen e del matematico Niels Henrick Abel.
Nel 1906 espose un modellino in gesso su scala 1/5 di una fontana monumentale, che destò notevole attenzione e meraviglia. Realizzò quindi una serie di grandi gruppi in granito per collocarli accanto alla fontana e nel 1919 un’alta colonna anch’essa in granito.
Nel 1921 il Comune decise di abbattere la vecchia casa in cui c’era lo studio dello scultore per costruire una biblioteca e trovò un accordo con Vigeland: il Comune avrebbe costruito un nuovo edificio in cui lo scultore avrebbe potuto lavorare e in compenso alla sua morte nella stessa casa sarebbe stato ospitato un museo con le sue opere.
Il nuovo studio a poca distanza dal Parco Frogner, che era stato scelto dal Comune quale luogo definitivo dove collocare la monumentale fontana, consentì a Vigeland di dedicare il resto della sua vita alla progettazione, alla realizzazione e all’allestimento di tutta l’area del parco che doveva accogliere le sue sculture. Morì il 12 marzo 1943.
Appena si entra nel parco “il frastuono del convulso traffico cittadino si attutisce come per incanto fino a spegnersi”.
Superati i cinque grandi cancelli e i due cancelletti in ferro battuto, ci si inoltra nel parco verso il ponte, ad ogni angolo del quale si trova un gruppo in granito di sauri e uomini, mentre sulle ringhiere si trovano 58 figure e gruppi in bronzo, uomini e donne di tutte le età rappresentati nella loro totale nudità (1926-1933). Essi rappresentano giochi erotici e lotta, ma anche momenti lieti dell’amore.Oltre alla relazione consueta tra madre e figlio troviamo il tema meno diffuso nell’arte del rapporto tra padre e figlio. Alle figure realistiche si associano anche quelle simboliche.
Superato il ponte, c’è la fontana. I sei giganti portanti rappresentano l’uomo che fatica con i pesanti fardelli della vita. I venti gruppi di bronzo sul bordo della vasca (1906-1914) rappresentano una combinazione di uomini e alberi. Nella mitologia e nella religione l’albero simboleggia normalmente la rigenerazione e la vita eterna. L’idea di stadi della vita e del ciclo eterno è ripresa nei 60 rilievi in bronzo che circondano il bordo della vasca.
Raggiunta la piana del Monolite, su una monumentale scala circolare ci sono 36 gruppi in granito che rappresentano i cicli della vita, disposti a raggiera sugli scalini; su quello più alto vediamo un gruppo con tanti bambini dirimpetto ad un gruppo di morti. Fra questi due estremi sono presentati uomini e donne in situazioni tipiche e quotidiane. Al centro si trova una colonna coperta da 121 figure in alto rilievo, che Vigeland chiamò la Colonna dell’Umanità, ma essa ha assunto la denominazione di Monolite perché è stata scolpita in un solo blocco di granito. La salita delle figure, il movimento verticale, che si interrompe sui gruppi di granito disposti in cerchio, sembra rievocare l’aspirazione a qualcosa che va al di là dell’esistenza terrena, ma c’è chi vi ha visto un simbolo fallico. Il Parco Frogner dopo la morte del suo artefice fu denominato Parco Vigeland.
A poca distanza c’è il museo dove è possibile ammirare i lavori giovanili di Vigeland, i suoi ritratti ed i monumenti, oltre a centinaia di bozzetti plastici.

Immagini da Oslo

Her om dagen var jeg. Monica og Joakim i Frognerparken under vårt stopp i Oslo på vei til Sørlandet. Det var nydelig vær og mye folk i parken og det mest interessante å ta bilde av var Vigelandsanlegget. Her er et utvalg av de beste bildene:

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Your Protector by Fleet Foxes

When The War Came by The Decemberists

All I Need by Radiohead

For første gang i historien har Vigelandsmuseet gitt tillatelse til reproduksjon av Vigelands-skulpturer. I hele sommer vil monolitten og andre av Vigelands verker befinne i den nederlandske hovedstaden Den Haag. Ikke i granitt – men i sand. Se saken jeg laget for LørDagsrevyen 130609:

Med i saken:
*KARINA HERTEIG
Billedkunstner og skulptør
*EVA BUGGE
Ambassadør
*MARCEL ELSJAN of WIPPER
Arrangør, Sandskulptur-akademiet WSSA
*JENTER i ENQUETE
ELISABETH ØIEN
KRISTINA ØIEN

Der Zyklus des Lebens zeigt auch sehr schön gealterte Körper. Fantastisch wie naturalistisch und “weich” harter Stein wirken kann.

Scan vom Dia.

Viele Figuren von Gustav Vigeland strahlen eine wunderbare Fröhlichkeit aus.

Scan vom Dia.

Der Vigeland-Park in Oslo. Auch ein Ort, an dem ich heute entschieden mehr Bilder machen würde.
Scan vom Dia.

After a 4 hour trip by bus we arrived at Saturday noon our “Final Destination“: Oslo, the capital city of Norway (Well, at least by give this information Kevin and Toby could learn something useful for their life). Unfortunately it rained cats and dogs (means heavy rain and snow) all weekend! After checking in at our hostel located in the heart of the city we had a quick stop at Burger King. I recommend everyone to try the Big King XXL: For only 12 Euro is a whole menu a very good deal! So Stefan stopped eating for one millisec as i calculated the price. In sweden it is only 4,90 Euro… though more than double the regular prize…

A 3 hours walk outside in the rain lead us from the parliament to the royal palace (it is not so nice as the one in copenhagen) to the most visited attraction in Norway: The Vigeland Sculpture Park has more than 1 million visitors every year. At the end there were some impressive statues and in the middle there was a big monument consisted of approx. 250 stone bodys ( i just took a control sample and then stopped counting). Also the french word “temple” decribes it best^^

Notice: The little cars are even smaller than a smart but also could drive up to 100km/h…but i do not wanna test this!

Frognerparken és el parc públic més gran de la capital de Noruega. En el seu interior es troba el Parc Vigeland. Aquest parc va ser construït per Gustav Vigeland entre els anys 1907 i 1942 per encerreg de l’Ajuntament.

Cap al 1921 el consistori decideix tirar el vell estudi de l’escultor per a fer-hi una biblioteca en el seu lloc. L’administració i l’artista arriben a un acord: es construeix una nova casa i un nou estudi per a Vigeland, que haurà de convertir-se en museu després de la seva mort, i l’escultor es compromet a donar totes les seves obres a la ciutat. El Parc Vigeland és una exposició lliure, gratuïta i permanent de dos centes creacions de l’artista.

Gustav Vigueland va treballar en el parc gairebé fins la mort al 1943. Kirkeveien (el seu estudi) es va convertir en el Museu Vigeland i hi podem trobar les obres de l’artista i tots els exemplars originals que es troben al Parc.

The Godfather al Vigeland Park. Neva, -6ºC.

La música és un llenguatge universal, està per tot arreu. Segons el lloc on anem es presenta d’una manera o en un context diferent però les sensacions que vol expressar generalment se’ns fan evidents tot i què no entenguem la lletra.

Осло -столица Норвегии. Городу уже 1000 лет, но старых построек сохранилось очень мало.   Современный город, в котором есть всё, для хорошего семейного отдыха, и на любой вкус. Многие знаменитые люди прославили Норвегию.  Это композитор Эдвард Григ, художник абстракционист Эдвард Мунк. Замечательные работы выставлены в музее. Мы попали в него со второго раза и то, благодаря настойчивости нашего гида. За что ему большое спасибо. Моя жена,  Оля, очень любит произведения художников. Может часами рассматривать полотна. Мы не посмотрели картину Мунка ” Крик”. Она была на рестоврации. Сейчас говорят её выставили. Мне тоже нравяться полотна художников, но я больше обожаю  скульптуры. Они мне приносят истенное наслождение.  Следующее, где мы побывали- музей или парк Вигелана.          

Густав Вигелан-знаменитый норвежский скульптор. Своёму мастерству он учился во Франции у скульптора Родена. У себя на родине Вигелан  подписал контракт с государством, что после его смерти все скульптуры будут пренадлежать народу. Государство предоставляло ему материал для работы, а так же учеников и подмастерьев. В итоге Вигелан произвёл около 2000 работ.  Только в парке их более 200 штук. Согласитесь, одному и без помощи такое не осилить. Он намечал сюжет, ученики делали грубую работу, а он потом доводил и оттачивал всё до конца. Государство дало ему возможность воплотить  свои идеи. Его скульптуры поражают своим воображением, выразительностью. В этих скульптупах можно проследить жизнь от рождения и до глубокой старости. И хотя все фигуры обнажённые, а центральная статуя ,воплощение мужского начала , свитая из обнажённых человеческих тел. А вдали женского. Никто не называет этот парк, музей – эротическим.

вход в парк Вегелана.

Первая фотография- начало экскурсии по парку.  Возможно я не смогу прокоментировать все скульптуры, но в общем постараюсь, что запомнил передать вам.

Центральная колонна

вид с низу

Эта коланна весом около 250 тонн. Гранитный монолит , возвышаеться в центре, как начало композиции. А от неё как бы лучами отходят другие сюжеты.

мать с детьми

На переднем плане мать, которая дала своим детям понукать собой. Вы посмотрите  на выражение лиц матери и детей. И вам станет всё ясно. А справа на дальнем плане наоборот ,многодетная мать окружила детей заботой, в левом верхнем углу куча мала. Резвятся счастливые дети.

подруги

Или следующая композиция

юношские игры

Посмотрите на выражение лиц, разве можно пройти спокойно мимо.

мечтатели

Или вот эти два мальчика, мечтающие о полетах на самолёте или о космосе.  Я не знаю как называются эти шедевры, коментирую так,  как я это себе представляю. Или вот эта, где отец даёт настовления своему сыну.

Отец и сын

Следующая скульптура из серии о любви. На этой фотографии, на заднем плане, видна скульптура олицетворяющая женское начало. Следующие фото посмотрите просто без коментариев. Это не полный перечень композиций, а только маленькая её часть, и прекрасно , что есть такой музей под открытым небом. Открытый для всех. Можно провести прекрасный день в таком парке, иметь кучу впечатлений.

Следующее о старости, когда человек задумывается о смысле жизни, о прожитых годах. Всё ли он сделал так как хотел, или о чём то надо сожалеть.  И ещё одна на эту же тему. В скульптурах меня порожает  выражение лиц, они точно отображают суть. О них можно говорить вечно, поэтому о главной композиции хочу закончить. Самый лучший вариант – посмотреть , как говорят воочию, если есть такая возможность. Далее следует фонтан, который окружают тоже скульптуры с разными мотивами, но они уже изготовлены из меди, так же как и фонтан.  а по обоим сторонам аллеи, продолжение композиции фонтана.Этот мужчина попавший в порочный круг,из которого он не может выбраться.Или здесь, отец играющий со своими детьми. У Вигелана много композиций на тему отцов и детей. Вот ещё фонтан. Многие называют Вигелана самоучкой. Может и так, но он создал замечательные шедевры.А вот  часть фонтана.  В заключении о парке- входные ворота. Они сделаны в форме витража. А ещё его называют ФРОГНЕР ПАРК , по месту его расположенияНаверное уже утомил своим рассказом о парке. Продолжим своё путешествие по городу. Начнём с железнодорожного вокзала. На вид он обычный, необычно то, что на площади перед ним стоит скульптура тигра большёго размера. На вид он негрозный. Разрешает даже покачаться на хвосте. Посидеть рядом. А так же запихать руку в пасть. Вот про его пасть и ходят легенды. Говорят, если муж или жена  изменяют друг другу, то когда руку в пасть положишь, глаза становяться красными и он кусает  руку .  Это всего лишь легенда, но когда я туда руку ложил , то тигр рычал. Верить или нет, дело ваше, но быть осторожным не помешает. И как в любом городе , на пешеходных улицах , музыканты , зарабатывающие кто на что.

Танцы с куклой.

Мы подошли к зданию городской Ратуше, перед входом в который, фонтан, увенченый парой лебедей.  В этом здании Горбочёв получал Нобелевскую премию. Можете посмотреть зал, в котором вручаются премии.Политические культурные премии вручают в этом зале в Осло, а по математике, физике, медицине в Стокгольме. Вид здания со стороны залива.  В Норвегии практически все знают английский. В отеле по телевизору , американские фильмы идут в оригинале с сурдопереводом на норвежский.К стати фонтан тоже со скульптурой Вигелана. А это сам залив. Мы сидели на набережной,слушали плеск воды и любовались парусниками. И ещё несколько фото  о городе . Очень интересный и красивый город. Вот так, по середине пешеходной дорожки, лежит скульптура неизвестного существа.  А это здание сторнинга.  и просто улица города.  Ремонт дорог и трамвайных путей, производится в городе  в ночное время, когда мало движения. В этом есть свои плюсы-нет пробок и минусы-шум, кто рядом живёт, когда идут работы. Конечно днём тоже производят работы.  Вот ещё одна композиция Вегелана у музея художника Эдварда Мунка. А ещё в Осло есть музей лыж, об этом музее мы впервые услышали здесь. Там находяться лыжи от современных и до исторических . В Норвегии шутят- ” Норвежец рождается с лыжами на ногах”.  Музей Кон-Тики , частный музей Тура Хеиердала. В нём мы не были.пока мы гуляли по городу, встретили ещё скульптуры Вигелана, как эта купальщица. Или эта.  В городе много стоит памятников и скупьптур.             И конечно о королевском дворце. В стране правит Король, вернее Королева, жена Короля Харальда V- Королева Соня,урождённая Соня Харальдсон. Родилась 4 июня 1937 года. иногда Норвегию называют – Королевство Норвегия.Здесь нет ограды, внешне невидно охраны .  Каждый может не ближе 10-20 метров от дворца спокойно посидеть или полежать на травке.  Можно постоять возле караульного.

И с чувством собственного удовлетворения, сказать себе “Я сделал это, я побывал в Королевстве Норвегии, я посмотрел Осло”,  и двинуться дальше в путь.  Не знаю чем, но эта страна, оставляет в душе неизгладимый след.А путь лежит в Швецию, Стокгольм.                                              Продолжение следует….

So I’ve been seeing all these awesome fall pictures on the internet around flickr and such and i just realized that i haven’t really posted any. Deciding that i needed to quickly remedy the situation, i searched through some of my pics in Aperture and found a few that were ok. So here are a few nice fall pictures from when i was at Vigelandsparken.

Nog eentje uit Oslo. Kunstenaar Gustav Vigeland is vooral gekend voor het Vigelandpark met zijn schitterende sculpturen. Die beelden komen later nog, maar ik bezocht ook zijn huis/atelier/museum. Daar kan je o.a. de kleien versies van portretten zien die gebruikt werden om er bronzen afdrukken van te maken. Later meer.

I was fortunate enough to receive a wonderful birthday present in 2005: a trip to Norway on the Queen Mary 2. These are some of the photos from that trip.

Click here to visit the gallery. 

13 images.

What would a visit to any international city be without checking out a few museums?

“The Scream” perfectly matched our moods just before arriving at the Munch Museum. We’d spent a couple hours online trying to find lodging for Bergen and our first night on Lofoten and either there was no room at the inn, or a totally plain room would cost $400. ARGH….

We were so happy to leave the hotel and be tourists, and we started the day viewing Edvard Munch’s masterpieces. I really love his paintings and think it’s a pity he’s mostly if not only known for “The Scream,” which of course has been commercialized in a hundred ways. (Even I, yes, have displayed blow-up Scream dolls at several jobs.) The guy was talented but not what you’d call upbeat, a few titles to wit: “Melancholy,” “Angst,” Despair.” He does, however, have several versions of “The Kiss” and a lovely “Starry Night” of his own.

The newest “museum” in town is the Nobel Peace Center, which opened in 2005. It’s near City Hall, which is where the Nobel Prize for Peace is awarded yearly. The overriding messages as well as the current exhibit, “The Places We Live” about slums worldwide, are tremendously moving. But also, the center’s displays use the latest technology. It’s a very hip place, with a cool gift shop to boot.

At Vigeland Park, an open-air gallery of more than 200 sculptures of Gustav Vigeland, you also can’t help but be moved. Vigeland’s work celebrates the humanness of humanity, young and old, fat and thin, angry and loving. Everyone, including us, loves his most known piece, “Sinataggen” or “Little Hot-Head” which humorously portrays a little boy having a tantrum. But, like with Munch’s “Scream,” this shows but one side of the artist.

On the peninsula of Bygdøy, a quick ferry ride from the harbor, you can see old wood-beam farmhouses and a glorious stave church at the Norwegian Folk Museum. There’s also more contemporary housing, from the 30s, and even a look inside a stereotypical Pakistani immigrant’s home. (Most taxi drivers here are from Pakistan.) I loved the exhibit on the indigenous Sami (f.k.a. Lapps), both past and present. The museum was filled with schoolchildren, many wearing fluorescent safety vests with the school’s name and phone number. Very cute.

Just around the corner at the Viking Ship Museum we marveled at the three Viking ships from the ninth century that were excavated from 1867 to 1904. Just that they are there is amazing; their ornate carvings were a bonus. So was the busload of Russians there, chattering among themselves.

But the vessels that most fascinated us were the balsa raft that sailed from Peru to Polynesia in 1947 and the reed boat that crossed the Atlantic in 1970. Both were piloted by late Norwegian explorer extraordinaire Thor Heyerdahl and are at the Kon-Tiki Museum in Bygdøy. Wessel had long wanted to see them. Me, the ignorant American, had never heard of Heyerdahl or his scientific and cultural explorations. If you’re in the same boat as I was, do yourself a favor a read a little about this fascinating man. We need more like him.

Al parco di Vigeland, di fronte al monolite con le figure intrecciate, Alfredo non può non guardare ossessivamente con la coda dell’occhio il tatuaggio sul braccio sinistro di Karen, raffigurante uno strano pesce marziano con cappello.

La notte precedente, nel festino a casa di Verena, l’informatica orecchiona e marcatamente new age, gli avevano spiegato che il loro gruppo era conosciuto in città, o meglio ne suoi sotterranei festaioli che lasciavano intatta la superficie delle cose, come i Nommos, dal nome degli dèi anfibi della tribù Dogon del Mali.

Nommo, dicevano, per i Dogon significa “dare da bere”. E gli passavano una bella lattozza ghiacciata, di quelle ammaccate ma veraci, con la goccia che cola e il sapore amaro, dicendo “Dagli da bere, allo Spaghetti!”

- Bisogna dare da bere alla gente. Nuova saggezza. Nuove capacità. Eccoci qui… Gioventù anfibia, ermafrodita: catastrofisti ma divertenti, prima che sia troppo tardi! Come è che diceva Stratone…νεκρὰ δὲ Δευκαλίων αὐτὰ κατακλυσάτω… E quando son morti ricoprili con l’inondazione di Deucalione!

Alfredo rideva allibito in un angolo. Il norvegese era una strana lingua. Sotto effetto dell’alcool pareva quasi clownesco. Ma quella mattina al Vigeland, dopo essersi fatti mezza città in autobus sotto costante osservazione delle vecchiette a bordo, che vedevano questi due giovani violacei andarsene a giro un po’ stravolti apparentemente senza una meta, Karen gli confessò i retroscena dei Nommos. Avevano tutte le caratteristiche di un gruppo di invasati senza requie che avrebbero voluto essere geneticamente modificati in esseri con le branchie.

Some of the photos shot during my stay in Oslo.

Operaen

Naked bodies in the Vigeland sculpture park

By clicking the photos above you’ll find additional photos uploaded to flickr and Panoramio. On top of that there are some photos available at Picasaweb and Facebook.

So I forgot I have to like, approve comments and I didn’t think anyone was reading this. But you guys are, so I’m gonna give you a solid update. It snowed a fair amount last night, but other than that it’s been kind of warm. Lame. School has kind of started, I’ve had two of my classes and another starts on Thursday. I have to read some shit but it’s still a lot of free time. People say I should get a job, but I want to be flexible to travel. That’s a pretty good excuse not to work. Plus, I like free time. 

Today I went to National Art Gallery and saw some Munch, even though there’s also a Munch museum. They had a whole bunch of awesome Norwegian paintings by dudes named Dahl and stuff, it was really awesome. I saw an original pastel version of Scream, which is pretty epic. Munch is the man. They also had a huge painting called Odin’s Wild Hunt. Google image that shit, it’s awesome. 

On Friday I went to Vigeland Park, you guys can see the pictures for that on facebook. There’s a ton, and I’m kind of too lazy to put them up on here. They look better on facebook anyway. You can also see all the crazy people I’m drinking/dancing with. Friday nights are when the bars on campus (yes, I said bars on campus) are open and beer is (relatively) cheap. Good times. There are even more Germans in my friends circle. I might as well be in damn Germany! Nah, just kidding. 

For those of you who knew about it, I met that ballet dancer from Westchester today. In 4 words, I can say “Jewish girl from Westchester.” ‘Nuff said, you guys should know what I mean. I mean, she was really nice, but I can’t say that we had any epic connection or anything. Whatever, we went to the art museum and that was fun. She was damn cute though. I’ll start updating this a lot more with sweet-o pictures and whatnot. As for now, go look at the Vigeland Park/Oslo pictures on facebook if you haven’t already. 

Leg 10 (Budapest to Oslo)
Holy crap, Budapest airport was SUCH a cluster you know what. The check-in counters have no indication of where you’re supposed to be, so you don’t know where to go to until they post it (and forget about checking in early – I think the booth opened up at 8:45 or so… definitely not like the 3 hours required in the US… but i suppose that could be a bonus).

Oslo
Arriving at the train station in Oslo went smoothly, until it came time to figure out who the heck Erik was… It would have been great to have some sort of clue what my host looked like – all I had to go on was ‘he’s into computers’.

After arriving, I just napped on the couch – Budapest was exhausting, at least the airport took most of my patience and sanity… Later that night, we ended up at a ‘Vorspiel’ before heading to a Jazz Club that night with his roommate and girlfriend… The only bad thing about Oslo is, my credit cards and ATM card decided not to cooperate – and i had used all of my Kroners from previous legs of my trip… I felt like such a jackass having to borrow money from Erik.

Wandering around…
Although I was pretty content to sit and read all morning (it had been raining since I got there), I decided to walk around and explore Oslo… I made my way to Vigelands Parken – a BEAUTIFUL public garden with some of the most intense sculptures I’ve ever seen (artist: Gustav Vigeland – hence the name).

I wandered around here, in awe of Vigeland’s ability to capture life’s stages with so much fluidity and emotion. It was so nice to be ‘on my own’ for this – to me, it’s the only way to experience art.

After the park, I walked on to Marthe’s (Martin’s sister) house… she had made some waffles with Jam, and I sat and talked with her family all afternoon… We then decided to go on a walk with her daughter Silje, and she showed me the Royal Palace and Akerhus Slott… It really was such a great day, and am so lucky to have met her… A great way to end my trip…